From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ben-Hur
is an epic
movie
of the
sword and sandal genre
released in 1959. It was directed by William Wyler. It stars
Charlton Heston
as Ben-Hur and
Stephen Boyd
as Messala. It is set in
Ancient Rome
and Ancient
Judea
. It tells of two men - one a Jewish prince and the other a Roman tribune - whose friendship turns to bitter hatred. The climax of the movie is a 9-minute
chariot
race and the
crucifixion of Jesus
. The movie won 11
Academy Awards
, including
Best Picture
. The movie is based on the 1880
novel
,
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
by
Lew Wallace
. A
silent movie
on the same subject was made in 1925.
The story is about Judah Ben-Hur, a
Jewish
prince and merchant in
Jerusalem
at the beginning of the 1st century. Judah's childhood friend Messala returns home as an ambitious commanding officer of the
Roman
legions. The two men realize that they have changed and hold very different views. During a military parade, a tile falls from the roof of Judah's house. It barely misses the Roman governor. Although Messala knows that they are not guilty, he condemns the Ben-Hur family. Without trial, Judah is sent to the Roman
galleys
for life; his mother and sister are imprisoned and all the family property is confiscated.
Through good fortune, Judah survives and returns to Jerusalem, where he seeks revenge against his one-time friend and redemption for his family. Running in parallel with Ben-Hur's narrative is the unfolding story of
Jesus
,
[4]
who comes from the same region and is a similar age. The two reflect themes of betrayal, conviction and redemption. With the
Crucifixion
, Ben-Hur recognizes that the Christ stands for a different goal than revenge, and he becomes Christian, turning to supporting the new religion with money which he has inherited, inspired by love and the talk of keys to a greater kingdom than any on earth.
Notes
- ↑
Although Tunberg received sole credit for the screenplay,
Maxwell Anderson
,
S. N. Behrman
,
Gore Vidal
and
Christopher Fry
worked on the script in the course of development. See the
Writing
section for more details.